Indonesian prosecutors propose death penalty for radical cleric

Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesian prosecutors have demanded a death penalty for radical
Islamic cleric Aman Abdurrahman who was accused of ordering attacks including a
January 2016 suicide bombing and gun attack in the capital city of Jakarta that
killed four civilians and four attackers.

Speaking at a
hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on May 18, prosecutor Anita
Dewayani clarified that Abdurrahman was brought to the court for the charge of making
plans and/or inciting others to commit terrorism activities to sow terrorism atmosphere
in the community.

According to Indonesia’s
anti-terrorism law and the evidence against Abdurrahman, Dewayani proposed a death
penalty for the Islamic cleric.

Abdurrahman
allegedly set up the group Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) linked to the
self-claimed Islamic State (IS), which was blamed for a string of suicide
bombings in the city of Surabaya on May 13 and 14 which killed about 30 people.

Indonesian authorities
found that Abdurrahman
involved in an attack targeting foreigners like the Paris attack in France, as
well as a series of bombing in January 2016 that killed eight people.

He was also the
mastermind of an attack on a bus terminal in the capital that killed three
police officers and an attack on a church in Kalimantan that injured four
children.

However,
Abdurrahman’s lawyers rejected all evidence against the radical cleric.

More than policemen
of counterterrorism and paramilitary units were deployed to guard the hearing
at the South Jakarta District Court following a wave of attacks by IS-inspired
militants.-VNA